OF HEALTH.

NUREMBERG, BAVARIA.-United States Consul James M. Wilson | REPORTS OF CORRESPONDENTS OF THE NATIONAL BOARD forwards the annual report of the sanitary union, of which he is a member. The health of the city is generally good, but of late an unusual amount of sickness has been caused by the extremely cold weather which seems to have prevailed over the whole continent of Europe since the beginning of winter.

COLOMBO, CEYLON.-United States Consul W. Morey, under date of October 28, reports that the island is usually free from all infectious or epidemic diseases. Asiatic cholera has not appeared there during the nineteen years of his residence at Colombo; typhus fever and plague are unknown, and typhoid fever occurs only in a few malarious localities. Small-pox seldom spreads to any extent, owing to the rigid enforcement of vaccination by the authorities, who provide for it without charge to the people.

GHENT, BELGIUM.-United States Consul A. Lefebvre reports for the month of November, 1879, 272 deaths in a population of 130,100, being at the annual rate of 25.1 per 1,000. One death only was caused by small-pox, 10 by typhoid fever, and 4 by other zymotic diseases. Consumption and acute lung diseases each caused 37 deaths, and 53 were due to diarrheal diseases. The weather was cold for the season, exact temperature not stated.

CEARA, BRAZIL.-United States Consular Agent S. Morgan forwards reports for the months of October and November, 1879, but observes that the details given are not very reliable, as no regular records of mortality are kept. For the two months, 267 deaths are reported, and the population being estimated at 55,000, the annual rate was 29 1 per 1,000. No infectious diseases had appeared during the year, and though the people suffered much inconvenience from the heat and scarcity of water, the health of the city continued very good. The mean temperature was about 86° for the two months. The causes of death are not reported.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA.-United States Consul George E. Hoskinson, in his report for the month of December, 1879, states that the sanitary condition of this city is very bad, and quotes strong language on the subject from an English traveler. The number of deaths for the month was 151, and the population being 40,000, the annual rate was 45.3 per 1,000. This mortality, in the absence of contagious or epidemic diseases, would indicate a very unsanitary condition.

Malarial fevers were the chief cause of death.

Bridgetown, BARBADOS.-Dr. W. C. Piggott sends, through United States Consul W. H. Polleys, the following account of the diseases and sanitary condition of the island:

PEEKSKILL, N. Y.-January 17, Dr. A. O. Snowden writes that no burial permits are required in this town, and that records are not to be obtained at present for making out regular, and reliable reports of mortality.

KINGSTON, NEW YORK.-Dr. J. D. Terwilliger, city physician, reports, January 13, the existence of scarlet fever as an epidemic, compelling the closing of one of the public schools. There is a local board of health, and reports will hereafter be furnished.

CARLISLE, PA.-January 16, Dr. J. B. Landis, secretary of the local board of health, states that at present no complete register of deaths is kept, but action will probably be taken in regard to that matter at the next meeting of the board of health, in February.

CLARKSVILLE, TENN.-January 17, Dr. C. W. Beaumont forwards copies of the ordinances and rules governing the local board of health, under which burial permits are required. The rules and regulations of the National Board of Health were adopted soon after their publication.

FAIRFIELD, CONN.-Jannary 19, Dr. Samuel M. Garlick states that there is no local board of health, but much sanitary work has been done under a voluntary association for the improvement of the town. Fifteen thousand dollars were expended during the last six months of 1879 for this purpose. No burial permits are required, except in the case of bodies brought here from other places for interment.

WORCESTER, MASS.-January 17, Dr. Rufus Woodward, city physician, states that no census has been taken since 1875, but the present population is estimated at 52,000. During the year 1879, 982 deaths were reported, giving an annual rate of 18.8 per 1,000; of children under five years there were 206 deaths, and 47 persons died at ages above eighty years. At the present time an epidemic of small-pox prevails.

NAVASOTA, TEXAS.-January 7, Dr. A. R. Kilpatrick reports that 49 deaths occurred in their town during the year 1879. The weather during the year was exceptionably dry and warm, and dysentery prevailed over the whole State. No epidemic disease visited the town during the year, and one death from whooping cough is the only one reported from any contagious disease. The population of the town is not stated.

ATTICA, WYOMING COUNTY, N. Y.—Dr. J. A. Post reports that during the year 1879 thirty deaths occurred among 3,500 inhabitants, being at the rate of 8.6 per 1,000 per annum. Six deaths were of children under 10 years, and 2 were over 70 years. This report includes a portion of the adjoining country. In the town 22 deaths were reported in a population of 2,500, being at the annual rate of 8.8 per 1,000. Four deaths and 4 births were reported in Attica during the week ending January 15.

CHICO, CAL.-January 6, Dr. G. W. Davis states that this town has a population of about 5,000, and is situated in a fine agricultural rethree miles from the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The drainage is naturally good, but it is hoped that the authorities will be induced to perfect it by a complete system of sewerage. From the winter of 1877 to April, 1879, diphtheria was epidemic and very fatal, but no case has occurred since last May.

We have, unfortunately, no system of registration, but I may de scribe the diseases of the island from an experience of nineteen years of practice here, and seventeen years of service as coroner. The island is formed of coral rock, with a porous super-stratum of light soil, which renders the formation of marshes impossible, and malarial fevers are not known here. The population of Bridgetown live in rather close and crowded habitations, yet typhoid fever prevails less in the town than among the people of the rural districts. This fact I ascribe to the remarkable purity of the water used in the town.gion of the Sacramento Valley, about six miles east of that river, and Measles and scarlet fever are not uncommon, but are seldom fatal. Small-pox was epidemic from 1859 to 1863, but since that time we have been free from the disease, though it has often prevailed in neighboring islands. The exemption of this place is probably due to judicious quarantine regulations, as vaccination is rarely practiced here. Yellow fever was epidemic in this island in 1852, and was then very fatal. Since that time only sporadic cases have occurred, and these cannot be traced to introduction of the contagion from abroad. Cholera visited the island in 1854, when about twenty thousand people died of it. Pneumonia and other inflammatory diseases are common during the rainy season, and dysentery forms an important element in the causes of death. Leprosy in various forms is not rare, especially that known as the "Barbados leg," which seldom attacks any but natives or those long resident on the island. The census of 1871 gave a population of 161,594, and an area of 106,470 acres for the whole island. The climate is enervating, as the thermometer is rarely down to 75°, and usually ranges from 800 to 850; but the uniformity of temperature, with the absence of malaria and of epidemic diseases, render the general health of the people better than is usually found in tropical climates.

SAINT LOUIS, Mo.-Dr. Charles W. Francis, health commissioner, writes, January 16, as follows, concerning infected articles of trade:

In No. 26 of the NATIONAL BOARD OF HEALTH BULLETIN reference is made by Dr. T. C. Minor, health officer of Cincinnati, to the shipment of infected articles of commerce, and especially of rags, to Saint Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, and eastern cities. I immediately instructed Sanitary Officer Dr. J. H. Moore to make an investigation of this matter; and, in accordance with my instructions, visits were made to the rag merchants and commission merchants. An examination of the books of those firms that handled rags showed that their shipments for months past have been received from the North and West, and that, with the exception of Texas, few rags are received

In addition to the above letter from Doctor Piggott, United States Consul W. H. Polleys forwards a report for the month of September, 1879, giving a total of 160 deaths in a population of 20,000. If these here from the South. figures are correct, the annual rate of mortality would be 96 per 1,000, which would imply a bad sanitary condition in a place reported as free from malarial and zymotic diseases generally.

I intend to watch this matter, however, inasmuch as the opening of trade in the spring may bring rags from infected districts of the South.

VOL. 1.]

BULLETIN.

WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1880.

ORGANIC MATTER IN THE AIR,

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON AN INVESTIGATION CONCERNING THE BEST
METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE AMOUNT OF ORGANIC MATTER IN
THE AIR.

[No. 31.

essary to avoid the use of a complicated series of vessels, and to make the collector as compact as possible.

Chapman some time ago suggested the use of pumice-stone, and actually employed it in this way: It was first ignited to destroy all organic matter that might be in contact with it, then a piece of platinum ganze was placed on a funnel, then a layer of coarsely powdered pumice-stone upon this, and finally a layer of the finely-powdered material upon this. It seemed to us desirable to diminish as much as possible the surface of the absorbent directly exposed to the air, and be passed, so the apparatus was modified by using, instead of the to increase the thickness of the mass through which the air was to funnel, a tube of three-eighths inch internal diameter, and from 5 to 7 inches long. This was drawn out at the lower end, so as to accommodate a small piece of rubber tubing, and in this form it is ready for use. After being carefully washed, it is filled with ignited powefficient as it is simple in construction. Several experiments were dered pumice-stone. This piece of apparatus was found to be as now undertaken in order to determine its efficiency.

By Professor Ira Remsen, of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. I herewith submit a brief report on the results of the experiments undertaken at the request of the National Board of Health for the purpose of deciding upon the best method for the determination of the amount of organic matter in the air. A full report on this subject will be presented at a later date, when the experiments, which are still in progress, have been brought to a close. The only object of this communication is to inform the Board in regard to the general character of the work which has thus far been done, the results which have been reached, and the direction in which inquiry is at present being pushed. It must be premised that, in an investigation of the kind under consideration, the greatest amount of patience must be united with the most delicate manipulation, in order that results of any value may be attained; and, even with these advantages, a very large amount of time would necessarily be involved in anything like a complete working out of the problem. It cannot be pretended that the work thus far performed puts the subject in a very satisfactory shape, but still it will be seen that a pretty firm basis has been laid for future investigation, and this, as there is reason to believe, is all the Board expected when the investigation was first suggested. The chief difficulty met with in this study consists naturally in the fact that the substances to be determined are present in the air in very minute quantity. To give an idea of the quantity, it is only necessary to say that, according to the best determinations by earlier experimenters, as well as by ourselves, there is, on the average, as nearly as can be estimated, about 0.5 gram of organic matter in 1,000 cubic meters of air. Now, the first question which it is desired to answer Whether the simple fact that the absorption of the nitrogenous mais, whether such minute quantities can be determined with sufficient terial is completely effected by the pumice-stone is all that is necesaccuracy to enable us to detect small variations in the amount pressary, is a question which will be considered in brief further on; but ent. If this were possible, it is plain that the fact would be of the that all the materials which contain ammonia or are capable, either highest importance to sanitary science, for it is now believed, with by treatment with caustic soda or with caustic soda and potassium good reason, that these organic constituents of the air are the real permanganate, of yielding ammonia, are completely absorbed by the mischief-breeders, and hence that the determination of the amount little piece of apparatus above described, is established beyond any possibility of a doubt by our experiments.

of organic matter in the air, provided it could be done with accuracy, would give us a much more correct measure of its impurity than any means now employed. It is still customary to determine the amount of carbonic acid (CO2) present in the air, and from the quantities found to draw conclusions concerning the impurity of the air; but, as the carbonic acid is known not to be the really injurious constituent, the method is obviously objectionable. We may have a very impure air without carbonic acid, and a harmless air with a considerable quantity of that gas.

I.—METHOD FOR COLLECTING ORGANIC MATTER FROM THE AIR. Before anything could be done in the way of examining the organic matter, a method had to be decided upon for collecting it. To guide us in the decision we had the experience of earlier workers in the field, particularly R. Angus Smith, (Journal Chem., Soc., xi, 217; Air and Rain, &c.,) Chapman, (Chemical News, 1870, page 65,) and Moss, (Lancet, 1872, page 627.) The methods employed by these investigators were not entirely satisfactory, and, further, from the descriptions of the earlier experiments, it is impossible to discover whether special experiments were undertaken to show that all the organic matter is actually absorbed by the agent employed. The method last employed by Smith is very tedious-so much so as to almost exclude its use as a practical measure. It consisted in drawing air into a vessel containing water, shaking it for some time, and then repeating this operation a great number of times, so as to secure the contact of a sufficient quantity of air with the water. It is not stated in Smith's papers whether the air that had been thus shaken with water was subsequently examined for organic matter or not; and it is questionable whether complete absorption can be effected in this way. Simply drawing the air through water is not sufficient, as Smith's first experiments showed, to secure complete absorption; and it seems also clear from Smith's statements that, if the air be drawn through a number of vessels and tubes, a considerable quantity of the substances which it is desired to obtain remains in contact with the walls of the glass vessels and tubes. It is hence nec

by means of an aspirator through four small flasks containing pure First, the air after passing through the pumice-stone was drawn distilled water, and, at the end of the operation, the water in the flasks was examined for nitrogenous matter by treating it in such a manner as to convert the nitrogen into ammonia. No ammonia was obtained from it except the minute quantity originally present. Then the air was passed successively through two pumice-stone tubes, and, while the first yielded the usual quantity of ammonia, the second did not yield even a trace. These experiments were repeated with very impure air, and with the same results. The rate at which of 10 liters in two hours to the passage of the same more in forty? the air was drawn through the absorber was varied from the passage five minutes. In all cases, however, no ammonia was obtained from

absorbents placed between the first pumice-stone tube and the aspi

rator.

With this knowledge it is possible to undertake a definite investigation concerning the amount of nitrogenous organic matter in the air; for after the material is once in our possession, the use of Nessler's solution will enable us to determine the small quantities of ammonia obtained.

A series of experiments was now made with air from different sources in order to determine how much reliance could be placed upon the results reached. As the composition from any source is liable to vary considerably from day to day it was recognized that the only possible way in which to secure results that could safely be compared with one another was to examine at the same time specimens of the same air, so that parallel experiments were always carried on and the results compared. In some cases three experiments with the same air were carried on at the same time, for the purpose of more thorough verification. As an illustration of the coincidence of results reached in parallel experiments, I may give one case :

External air taken from a height of about 25 feet above the ground was drawn by means of aspirators in the usual manner through three pumice-stone tubes.

Experiment 1. There was found an amount of ammonia corresponding to 0.343 grams in 1,000 cubic meters of air.

Experiment 2. The corresponding amount found was 0.361 grams in 1,000 cubic meters of air.

Experiment 3. The amount found was 0.439 grams in 1,000 cubic meters of air.

When the very minute quantity of substance dealt with is taken into consideration the agreement in the results must be regarded as fairly satisfactory. Now, in nearly all the experiments undertaken upon this point an almost equally close agreement of results was reached. To this statement a few exceptions must be made, but in every case in which any marked disagreement was observed a sufficient reason was known.

The experiments alluded to prove then pretty conclusively: 1st, that the pumice-stone tube is an efficient apparatus for the collection

of all ammoniacal or nitrogenous organic substances contained in the air; and 2d, that the ammonia yielded by the substances thus collected can be determined with a considerable degree of accuracy by the use of the method of Nessler.

II.-EXAMINATION OF THE COLLECTED MATERIAL.

free and "albuminoid ammonia" found in these two experiments, it will be noticed that the agreement in the total amounts of ammonia found is much better; the amount being in Experiment 1, 0.465 gram, and in Experiment 2, 0.530 gram. It will, of course, be observed that in the above method it is not An extended series of observations upon the point here under conprofessed that all organic materials that may be in the air are included, sideration would be necessary before complete reliance could be but only those which contain nitrogen. The question still remains placed upon the results reached by the methods described. While open whether other organic materials may not pass unabsorbed of course the proof is not given that the "albuminoid ammonia" through the pumice-stone. This may be answered by passing the air process as applied to air analysis is not of value, it is certain that its which has been in contact with the pumice-stone through a solution of application must require the greatest skill, such as only a thoroughly permanganate of potassa. If organic material is left, its presence will, trained chemist could command. It is hoped that, should it be posin all probability, be indicated, though its quantity may not be esti- sible to continue these experiments, they may lead to a more definite mable by the decoloration of the permanganate. So, too, it has been conclusion than any which can now be drawn. All that can at presfound that air contaminated with organic matter, if passed through ent be stated with any degree of certainty is, that the material cola heated tube and then into alcohol, causes a dark color to appear in lected in the pumice stone absorber from the same amount of the the alcohol, and there seems to be some observable relation between same air gives approximately the same amount of ammonia; while the amount of organic matter present and the depth of the color pro- the results of experiments made to divide the total ammonia into duced in the alcohol. This fact might be taken advantage of to de- the two parts, free and albuminoid, seem to indicate that there is contermine whether there is organic matter left in the air after it has siderable danger of inaccuracy. In earlier experiments, especially passed through the pumice-stone. Experiments of this character have those of Smith and Moss, more importance seems at the outset to not yet been performed. have been attached to the reaching of new results in the examination of different kinds of air than to the testing of the methods employed by the continued performance of parallel experiments. It is hence impossible to say how much weight should be given to the results of these experiments. Nevertheless, their results are interesting, indicating as they do marked variations in the amounts of nitrogenous organic matter contained in the air under different circumstances. The labors of these investigators will be examined more critically in the fuller report to be presented later. Apparently the most remarkable results yet reached are those recently described by W. Van Slooten (Journal American Chemical Society, 1, 263), who undertook to determine the amount of free and albuminoid ammonia in the air of New Orleans during a part of the year 1878, covering the period of the yellow-fever epidemic. He found: "First, that the air was abnormally charged with 'albuminoid ammonia' during the epidemic; second, that the abnormality disappeared with the fever; third, that the atmosphere not in immediate connection with the ground was comparatively free from any abnormal variations from an average standard." It would be venturesome to accept these results without verification. The figures given by Van Slooten are certainly in accordance with the view that, at the time of the epidemic, the air is abnorminally charged with "albuminoid ammonia." This may be true, and nevertheless it may be that no direct connection whatever exists between the epidemic and the" albuminoid ammonia." It is highly probable that in summer there is more volatile organic matter in the air than in winter, or, in general, more when the temperature is high than when it is low. Conclusions like that of Van Slooten can only be of value when it has been shown that during an epidemic there is more "albuminoid ammonia" in the air than there is at the same period of other years when epidemics are not raging.

After the collection of the material from the air the problem of its examination becomes very similar to that of the examination of the organic matter in water. It is known that great differences of opinion exist among those who have worked on the latter problem, and it can safely be said that up to the present no satisfactory conclusion has been reached. It is not necessary to enter into the discussion as to the relative merits of the different methods which are in use, or which have been recommended for the determination of organic matter as it exists in water. It is plain that it is not of so much importance to sanitarians to know the total amount of organic matter, that is, matter containing carbon, in the air, as to know the amount of those particular organic matters which are most likely to be injurious. These are commonly supposed to be nitrogenous, on the assumption that they are derived from animal substances which nearly always contain nitrogen. In this investigation the view that the injurious substances in the air are nitrogenous has thus far been accepted provisionally, and every effort has hence been made to determine the amount of ammonia which Icould be formed from the matter collected. But by means of the method of Wanklyn, Chapman, and Smith (Journ. Chem. Soc., N. S., V., page 591; Wanklyn, Water Analysis, fourth edition, 25) it is possible to divide the ammonia obtained into two parts: First, that portion which exists either as free ammonia or as salts of ammonia, called "free ammonia;" and, second, that which is obtained from nitrogenous organic matter by treatment with caustic soda and permanganate of potassa, called "albuminoid ammonia." If all nitrogenous organic materials which occur in the air certainly yielded all their nitrogen in the form of ammonia when treated with caustic soda and permanganate of potassa, then the determination of the amount of albuminoid ammonia in the air would furnish us with a fair, though not an accurate, measure of the amount of such nitrogenous materials present. Whether this is so or not cannot be easily decided, but it is known that many organic substances containing nitrogen do not give up all their nitrogen when treated as above described. This fact detracts from the value of the "albuminoid ammonia" process, though it by no means necessarily renders it valueless. It is still possible, of course, that the very nitrogenous substances, the presence of which it is desired to discover, may be completely decomposed by the reagents employed in the Wanklyn process. If it can be shown that in several experiments carried on simultaneously with the same air the same amount of "albuminoid ammonia" is found, and that these amounts bear a constant relation to the impurities of the atmosphere, then it would be of value. With these points in view several experiments were next undertaken, the results of which are not as satisfactory as could be desired, though they are certainly interesting as throwing light upon the value of the method employed. In parallel experiments there was usually observed a fair agreement of results, but occasionally very marked differences were met with in the amounts of "albuminoid ammonia" found in one and the same specimen of air. Thus, in one series of three experiments carried on simultaneously, the following results In the first experiment there were found in 1,000 cubic meters air, 0.128 gram of free ammonia and 0.215 gram "albuminoid ammonia." In the second experiment the amounts were 0.120 gram free and 0.241 gram "albuminoid ammonia."

were obtained:

In the third experiment the amounts were 0.157 gram free and 0.292 gram" albuminoid ammonia."

These results may be regarded as fairly satisfactory, when the delicacy of the operations involved is taken into consideration. In another case two parallel experiments yielded less concordant results, though, as usual, every precaution was taken to avoid error. The results referred to were in

Experiment 1: 0.120 gram free ammonia and 0.345 gram "albuminoid ammonia," in 1,000 cubic metres air; and in Experiment 2: 0.073 gram free ammonia and 0.457 gram "albu

minoid."

While there are quite marked discrepancies between the amounts of

Finally, it should be mentioned that, in attempting, to answer the question whether the amount of "albuminoid ammonia" can be regarded as a safe measure of the purity of air, some experiments were performed with air contaminated by being drawn through water containing decaying meat. The odor of this air was almost unendurable, and, according to all commonly accepted notions, it could not be breathed without serious results; yet, when examined by the method used in all the other cases, a very small amount of "albuminoid ammonia" was obtained from it-rather less, indeed, than from ordinary air. These experiments were frequently repeated, and always with practically the same results. In view of the importance of these facts in connection with the subject under investigation, it will be necessary to repeat these experiments a great many times. It is also desirable to use other means for rendering the air markedly impure, and then to subject it to examination. It is proposed, if time permit, to place a dog in an air-tight box, to draw air slowly through the box, and then examine the air for "albuminoid ammonia." Similar experiments have, to be sure, already been performed, but without satisfactory results. The field of inquiry which lies before us is thus seen to be very extensive, but it is attractive, and, to a certain extent, promising. It seems not improbable that, if time and opportunity were afforded, its exploration would lead to discoveries of great importance to sanitary science. By the work briefly referred to in this report the paths have been made pretty definite, so that a continuation of the investigation appears to be desirable.

YELLOW FEVER IN THE HORSE AND DOG.

A report upon the fever of acclimation or yellow-fever of the horse and dog; by Dr. Pasqual Beauville, of Havana, sub-delegate on veterinary surgery; presented to the Havana committee of the National Board of Health through the Spanish commission for the study of yellowfever; abstract and remarks by George W. Sternberg, surgeon United States Army.

The disease of acclimation is an infectious disorder characterized by stupor, prostration, and alteration in the character of the blood.

In the cadaver, dark-colorod spots are found in almost all of the tissues, due to escape of the blood through the porosities of the vascular walls. (?)

The invasion of the disease is usually announced by loss of appetite, indigestion, colicky pains, debility, and indisposition to move. Two forms of the disease occur: a mild and a malignant form. In the mild form there is a simple fever which may or may not be followed by organic lesions, pneumonia, or enteritis, separately or jointly. In the malignant form pneumonia and enteritis occur as a rule, and frequently arachnitis.

times by diarrhea; at other times by pulmonary congestion; otherwise languor, slight yellowish serous discharge from nostrils, stiffness, inability to undergo exertion, readily perspiring, shivering, slight constipation of bowels and mucoid fæces, cough, and uneasy movements of the limbs, marked the advent of the disease. The pulse, respiration, and temperature-unless invasion was violent or lungs primarily attacked-were not much interfered with.

The acute febrile symptoms in the majority of cases attained their climax about the fifth day.

The post-mortem appearances described are those of pneumonia and pleurisy in certain cases, and in one case ulceration of the mucous membrane of the large intestine is noted. In one autopsy "the tissues of the body were universally icteric."

In the mild form the animal is restless, feeble, and vacillating in his movements, yawns frequently, and takes but little food or drink. The respiration and pulse are accelerated and sometimes the skin is hot. The conjunctivæ are of a straw-yellow or brick-red color. In mild cases recovery occurs at the end of five days. In cases in which pneumonia or enteritis occurs the disease terminates, in favorable cases, in ten or twelve days. In the malignant form there is extreme debility, a bloody discharge from the nares. The eye is of a straw or saffron-yellow color. The faces have a disagreeable odor; they are hard and lumpy and reddish in color. The symptoms in addition to those detailed are those of pneumo-enteritis. This form of the disease usually terminates fatally in from two to ten days. Gan-patient is found to be dull, off feed, with marked prostration, pulse grene of the lungs sometimes occurs. Pleurisy often occurs as a complication.

*

Another writer in the same journal (Stephen Knott, M, R. C. V. S.) describes a disease of horses which prevails in India, and which is known among the English veterinary surgeons attached to the cavalry service as "loodiana fever." (Veterinary Journal, January, 1877, page 18.) The symptoms as described correspond very closely with Dr. Beauville's account of the yellow fever of horses in Havana. The disease assumes more than one form, and is in some cases more malignant than in others. I shall first notice the severe form. The quick and weak, mouth and skin very hot, very quickened respiration; visible mucous membranes of a bilious tinge bowels, Pathological anatomy.-The cellular tissue is frequently stained yel- as a rule, constipated, fæces sometimes clay-colored and covered with low and extravasated blood is found in its meshes as small black mucus, there is great swelling of the head and neck. points, or occasionally, as extensive ecchymotic patches. The mu- (Dr. Beauville mentioned this as a prominent symptom in a convercous membrane of the whole alimentary tract is injected, and ulcera-sation with the writer.) Sometimes from the eyes and nostrils a tions are generally found in the stomach, and in the small and large yellow discharge exudes. intestines. The mesenteric ganglia are usually hypertrophied. The liver is enlarged and of a pale yellow color, sometimes mottled. Internally it is softened and presents a few spots of interstitial hemorrhage. The kidneys are generally found congested and occasionally present ecchymotic spots. The lungs present the lesions of acute croupous pneumonia.

In the dog the earliest symptoms which present themselves are depression, anorexia, frequent pulse, slight cough, and yellowish tinge of conjunctivae.

After two or three days the cough becomes suddenly very frequent and violent; the respiration is rapid, the abdomen tense and hard; the faces dry and scanty, sometimes bloody; saliva dribbles from the mouth. Immediately after death a considerable quantity of dark blood flows from the nares; ecchymotic spots are found irregularly distributed throughout the mucous membrane of stomach and small intestines. The spleen is considerably softened and engorged. Nothing remarkable found in the other abdominal viscera; ecchymoses found irregularly disseminated throughout the pulmonary substance.

Remarks. This interesting paper was not received in time to be noticed in the preliminary report of the Havana commission. Only a brief abstract is given here, but the main facts are presented, and they do not seem to justify Dr. Beauville's opinion that the disease he describes is identical with yellow fever in man, or at least is produced by the same cause. While there are doubtless some striking points of resemblance, the pneumonia and enteritis described by the doctor are so prominent in the record of symptoms and pathological lesions as to give a special character to the disease quite different from that of yellow fever in man.

If the yellow-fever poison is capable of producing the disease in horses described by Dr. Beauville, it is difficult to understand why this effect does not result from the same cause in the United States, where large numbers of horses have been repeatedly exposed to infected atmospheres in cities where yellow fever has been epidemic. In the Veterinary Journal of February, 1877, page 73, is an article by Principal Wally, of the Edinburgh Veterinary College, entitled "Bilious or yellow fever in horses at Leith Scotland, in 1875." A few extracts from this paper will show a striking resemblance to the disease described by Dr. Beauville, and as the specific yellow fever of man has never been known in Leith, it is evident that the yellow fever of horses here described must be due to a different cause.

Definition. A low fever, running a definite and prolonged (continous) course, liable to exacerbation or remission, and marked by a jaundiced (icteric) condition of the visible mucous membranes; infectious in character, attended by grave complications, and followed by serious results.

Duration four or five days in mild, to three or four weeks in severe

cases.

Symptoms; Occasionally ushered in by abdominal pain; some

Post-mortem appearances.-You find deposited between the muscles of the neck yellow gelatinous effusion; black blood also exudes through the different tissues; lungs in patches of inflammation and gangrene; pleura covered with ecchymosed spots. Stomach: mucous membrane of an inflamed, plum-colored tinge, with patches of ulceration on different parts; small intestines same appearance. Cæcum and colon have a deeper plum-colored tinge; spots of ulceration also appear on different parts. Liver sometimes pale and at other times congested; spleen dark in color and enlarged; kidneys sometimes congested and ecchymosed.

In a subsequent paper the writer intimates that the disease described may be identical with anthrax or splenic fever. Whether this be true or not, the yellow fever among horses at Leith, the loodiana fever in India, and the yellow fever described by Dr. Beauville as occurring in Havana, resemble each other so closely as to create a strong suspicion that they are the same disease.

MISCELLANEOUS.

MONTREAL, CANADA.-In the last number of the BULLETIN the reports from this city were noted for the three months ending October 31, and 116 deaths from small-pox were recorded for that period. Of these 40 occurred in October, and the report for November gives 60 that the constant prevalence of small-pox in Montreal is due to the deaths from that disease. Dr. A. B. Larocque shows in his remarks rejection of vaccination by a number of the people. Seventeen of the deaths in October occurred in one street, where 80 children were unprotected, the parents having refused vaccination for them. The total number of deaths in November was 265, being at the annual rate of 23.5 per 1,000. Diphtheria and typhoid fever each caused 9 deaths; other zymotic diseases were insignificant.

SMALL-POX IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Dr. S. Townshend, health officer, reports for the week ending Jan

uary 24 only 6 new cases of small-pox in the District. Five were white, 1 colored; 2 males, and 4 females; 2 deaths occurred, both white children. One case was removed to hospital, the others isolated in their homes. As classified in the reports, there were 4 cases of varioloid, 1 of distinct and 1 of hæmorrhagic small-pox. The latter case occurred in a patient vaccinated after infection; the distinct case, in one who had never been vaccinated; and only 1 of the cases of varioloid had been successfully vaccinated within five years. Five persons were discharged from quarantine during the week. On the 24th instant there were 15 persons at the small-pox hospital, of whom 13 were convalescent, and only 1 whose recovery was doubtful.

NOTICE. All official communications to the National Board of Health should be addressed to the Secretary, Dr. T. J. Turner. Correspondents, and others whose writing may be intended for publication, are reminded that much trouble is saved by writing on one side only of the paper,